As General Dynamics Electric Boat prepares to hire 4,000 new employees at Rhode Island and Connecticut facilities in the next 15 years, company executives, education leaders and Governor Raimondo announced another step Thursday in state and company efforts to train young people for the jobs.

At Coventry High School, they announced that the state's largest Real Jobs Rhode Island partnership is ready to start teaching in the fall at six career and technical schools: in the Chariho, Coventry, Cranston and Warwick school districts, and at the Providence Career and Technical Academy and the William M. Davies Jr. Career and Technical High School in Lincoln. Led by Electric Boat, the training team won a $369,500 grant in November from the state Department of Labor and Training's signature job-skills program.

Electric Boat and partners expect ninth-graders to enter an advanced welding and ship-fitting program, where training will become more advanced each year. By senior year, students will work paid internships at Electric Boat, with hopes of landing jobs after graduation, said Elliot Krieger, spokesman for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

"We are proud to take part in this innovative effort to shape Rhode Island’s future manufacturing work force," General Dynamics Electric Boat President Jeffrey S. Geiger said in a statement. "Our participation reflects the importance we place on training, education and development."

In January, Geiger announced plans to hire 4,000 people at three facilities: the manufacturing facility in Quonset Point, North Kingstown; the shipyard in Groton, Connecticut; and the engineering and design facility in New London, Connecticut.

In an interview with The Providence Journal, Raimondo said, "My goal is to make sure everyone they hire is a Rhode Islander."

The firm now employs slightly over 14,000 people, including 3,600 at Quonset Point — a number expected to rise to 5,500 to 6,000, spokesman Tim Boulay said.

Over the next two years, the governor's office said about 180 students will enter the program, which hopes to eventually graduate about 350 students each year.

This partnership is the latest in the company's efforts to prepare people for upcoming jobs.

Electric Boat also expects to offer advanced training this fall for its employees, at the planned Westerly Higher Education & Job Skills Center, and to partner with the R.I. Commerce Corporation's new P-TECH initiative, a six-year program in Newport, Providence and Westerly public schools.

"Today's announcement of the Electric Boat Partnership marks a major step in our efforts to align career-technical education with the needs of businesses, manufacturing, and industry in our state — to the benefit of all," Board of Education Chairwoman Barbara S. Cottam said in a statement.